Abercrombie positive ahead of NBL final

AUCKLAND, April 10 AAP – Tom Abercrombie says he probably won’t be 100 per cent for the New Zealand Breakers’ first NBL grand final match on Thursday, but he still wants to be on the court.

The injury to the NBL All-Star’s ankle in the Breakers’ semi-final victory over the Townsville Crocodiles has been a talking point ahead of the first match of the best-of-three final series against the Perth Wildcats on Thursday.

It’s a familiar story for the Breakers, whose other All-Star Cedric Jackson had an ankle injury ahead of game two of the Crocodiles series but took the court and played big part in their victories.

Abercrombie, who sat out Tuesday’s training session, says he’s not feeling much pain in the ankle but it’s still very swollen and he’s getting plenty of ice and physio.

“If I play I’m probably not going to be 100 per cent so for me it’s just about going out and contributing in any way that I can to the team,” he said.

“I might not be able to do some of the things I usually can, but I’ll be going out there and giving everything I’ve got with what I’ve got.”

Abercrombie’s ankle is big enough news that it has its own Twitter account, though the player has no idea who’s behind the tweets.

“I’m a bit jealous, it’s getting more followers than me,” he joked.

“He’s a comedian, that’s for sure.”

Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis said the team won’t know until Thursday whether Abercrombie will be available, but they were still backing themselves.

“One of the strengths all year for us has been our depth, so regardless of who we’re playing, who we have on the floor, we feel confident we can get the job done.”

Publisher: AAPNewswire

12 Apr 7:49 AM